Tucked in the Candler Park storefront across the street from the Flying Biscuit, Gato an oft forgotten gem. The restaurant is only open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., but with new pop-up restaurants opening inside Gato for dinner, the small, quaint restaurant is now busier than ever.
Owner and chef Nicholas Stinson acquired the restaurant only a year and a half ago after having worked at the restaurant for four years. Stinson said the restaurant is turning into a destination for foodies, without becoming pretentious.
“I know, it’s a little hipsterish,” Stinson said. “That’s not on purpose.”
I visited the restaurant on a Sunday morning for brunch. With only four booths and a few barstools, it gets packed fast and often has a line out the door. I was seated at the bar, giving me a front seat view of the action in the kitchen. The restaurant has its own take on the traditional breakfast and lunch, spicing things up with a Mexican flare.
The breakfast menu consists of a range of sweet to savory breakfast items, from the classic pancake to the Omelette Bizco, an omelette with spinach and mushrooms. I ordered the Paris Texas Toast with a side of grits, both of which were mouthwateringly delicious. The chefs chatted up the patrons seated at the bar stools, giving the restaurant a homey, personal feel.
While the breakfast and brunch joint serves up phenomenal food, the real crowd drawers are the many pop-up restaurants that use the Gato space to set up shop. The restaurant’s first pop-up adventure was BATON Supper Club started by Moses Archuleta and Bryson Tedford. BATON Supper Club has since moved on, but the restaurant now hosts three pop-ups nightly from 7 to 11.
Every Monday the restaurant hosts Jimmie’s Hot Chicken, run by chef James Ellington. Gato Arigato, run by Allen Suh, takes over Gato Tuesdays through Thursdays, and Sundays feature Eat Me Speak Me, a pop-up run by chef Jarrett Stieber featuring locally sourced “New American” style cuisine.
“Trying to have four different menus in this tiny little space has made it so that we have to become ultra efficient and ultra organized,” Stinson said, “which I, by nature, am not.”
The pop-up concept has gained popularity in the Atlanta food scene because of its new, fun approach to restaurants. Pop-ups allow chefs to experiment with their art while also creating a great and varied experience for the connoisseurs who frequent the restaurant. Popular pop-up chef Jarrett Stieber’s Eat Me Speak Me is the newest pop-up to set up shop in Gato.
“A traditional restaurant takes a lot more time and resources, which is definitely an end goal of mine,” Stieber said, “but the pop-up restaurant gives me the flexibility right now to kind of experiment with what works and what doesn’t work from a business standpoint.”
After hearing raving reviews about Jimmie’s Hot Chicken, James Ellington’s Monday night pop-up at Gato, I had to check it out. I arrived right at 7 only to find there was already a long line of people ahead of me. I was seated at 7:45 and with one look at the menu, I knew I was in for a treat.
I ordered the Crispy Brussels Sprouts, which was a delicious mix of Brussels sprouts, purple potatoes, Stilton blue, blood oranges and sage. And of course, I could not go to Jimmie’s without ordering Jimmie’s Hot Chicken, which was served on a whole-wheat pancake with a decadent sherry apple cider syrup to drizzle on top.
The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was lively. Because it was below freezing outside, what would have normally been a line of people out the door was instead a huddled mass standing in the tiny aisle of the restaurant. A buzz of excitement filled the air as the eager foodies waited for their tasty fried chicken while holding on to their cases of beer, since the restaurant is BYOB (bring your own beer).
By 8 p.m. the establishment had started to thin out. The food was exceptional and the atmosphere was one of a kind. The one downside to this hot chicken pop-up is you will smell fowl for the rest of the night.
